As we have seen, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the process of carefully planning a product from its inception to its ultimate obsolesce. A product can be thought of in terms of both functional elements and the physical elements. The functional elements of a product are the individual operations and transformations that contribute to the overall performance of the product. As an example, 3D Printing is a process for making a physical object from a 3D CAD file, typically by laying down successive layers of a material (or materials) as needed. The functionality of a 3D printer is therefore to create a 3D object from CAD drawings. The actual task of creating an object is implemented by the controlling motherboard, motion controllers, print beds, raw printing material, etc., which are nothing but the physical elements of the 3D printer. Functional elements are usually described in schematic form before they are reduced to specific technologies, components, or physical working principles. The physical elements of a product are the parts, components, and sub-assemblies that ultimately implement the product’s functions.
Product Architecture is the assignment of the functional elements of a product to the physical elements of the product. In simple English, it is the process of mapping the function (what the product does) to its form (which part / module actually gets the function done). Product architecture is an integral part of PLM and deals with how the function of any product is organized into physical parts, such as assemblies and components. In a PLM cycle, the product architecture is a constantly evolving thing. It is refined as the physical elements become more defined during the development progress of the product. Some physical elements are dictated by the product concept, and others become defined during the detail design phase.
The physical elements of a product are typically organized into several major physical building blocks, which are called chunks. Each chunk is made up of a collection of components that implement the functions of the product. The architecture of a product is the scheme by which the functional elements of the product are arranged into physical chunks and by which the chunks interact. This definition associates product architecture to system-level design and the principles of system engineering - a process that enables building, analyzing and managing a system through an iterative process.
Product architecture plays an important role in all aspects of a product - from designing, making, selling, and repairing it. While in the designing phase, product architecture influences how development work is bifurcated and how platforms are structured, how reuse and standardization are accomplished and where sub-assembly and module boundaries are. Product architecture also plays a key role in assembly sequences, reuse of production facilities, flexibility and risk mitigation. Once the product is developed, product architecture also guides about how the product is to be updated and recycled, and how service is to be delivered. This comes in handy during the later stages of the product PLM.
In short, product architecture drives the design and has a significant impact on manufacturing costs.
Product architecture can be implemented in four steps - creating a schematic with the product features, grouping together the features and elements, making a geometric layout of the elements and connecting the elements by lines to visually depict if and how they interact with one another. It is equally important to keep in mind the business and technical objectives of the product. Coming back to the example of a 3D printer, the product should be architected in such a way that it is technically viable as well as economically feasible for the company to produce it. It should be scalable, and incorporate fault tolerances and backups. As another example, consider an electronic gadget. In case there is an undue surge in voltage, there needs to be a circuit breaker like a fuse in place to protect costly electronic components. All these safety features are part of product architecture as well.
Types of Product Architecture
There are two fundamental types of product architecture: modular and integral.
Integral Architecture
As the name implies, integral architecture focuses on the function, purpose, and inner workings of each feature, and the relationship between functions and components. An integral architecture implies complex mapping between components and functions and a high level of incidental interaction between components. A product that utilizes an integral architecture will often be designed with the highest possible performance in mind. Integral architecture typically distributes implementation of functional elements across multiple, indistinct building blocks. A modern smart phone is an excellent example of integral architecture. It combines a multitude of functionality in a single hand held device.In addition to receiving and making calls, a smart phone can click photos using the inbuilt camera, play music, and stream video.
Modular Architecture
In the modular architecture, each task is assigned to a module that works on a specific function. These modules interact with each other to serve the product's overall purpose. In a modular architecture, there is a one-to-one mapping from functional elements to building blocks and well defined interfaces. Modular architecture can be further subdivided into slot-modular architecture, bus-modular architecture and sectional-modular architecture. On the whole, modular architecture offers savings due to economies of scale, faster development time due to design reuse, and ease of product variety by use of interchangeable modules.
An example of a modular product is the Personal Computer (PC). Every component of a PC, with the exception of the motherboard, has the ability to be interchanged and removed with relative ease.It also allows changes to be made to a few isolated functional elements of the product without necessarily affecting the design of other elements.
To put it succinctly, in an integral architecture, functions are shared by physical elements while in a modular architecture, each function is delegated to a separate element.
It is vital to define product architecture before starting product development. Integral design cuts costs but increases interdependency. A modular architecture works on one-to-one mapping between functions and components and only necessary interactions between components. The components can therefore be modified or upgraded more easily. However, they can be slightly bulkier and incur a higher design cost.
In real life of course, most companies use a mixed mode approach. What this means is that while parts of the product may be integrated, other parts may be modular. Such a product architecture allows the product to focus on its core utility.
PLM Software
Irrespective of which product architecture you choose, it is necessary to use robust PLM software like PTC Windchill that lets you be flexible about product development. Windchill has an open architecture integrated with enterprise domain applications that helps streamline product development faster, and at a lower cost, and is a leading name in PLM software in U.S., India and other nations.